E073_Need Impactful Safety Training? Our Pick'n'Mix Workshops are for you!

In this episode, we explore the critical role of safety training in today's dynamic and high-risk work environments. Traditional training methods often fall short, feeling disconnected from real-world operations and failing to inspire lasting change.

That's where our innovative Pick'n'Mix workshops come in.

These workshops offer a fresh and flexible approach, allowing organisations to customise their safety training by selecting from a variety of topics that meet their unique challenges and needs.

We'll take a deep dive into the concept behind Pick'n'Mix workshops, highlighting how they not only ensure compliance but also contribute to creating a resilient safety culture.

By offering over 20 tailored modules, from foundational safety principles to advanced leadership training, these workshops can be crafted to address specific team challenges, whether you're dealing with communication breakdowns, leadership visibility issues, or a lack of understanding around the language of risk.

We also discuss how collaboration plays a pivotal role in making these workshops transformative.

By engaging teams in meaningful conversations and creating an environment where everyone shares experiences, organisations can bridge knowledge gaps, align on safety goals, and build a stronger, more cohesive team dynamic.

Whether delivered on-site, virtually, on one day or over an extended period, the Pick'n'Mix workshops provide the flexibility to fit into busy operational schedules, ensuring that teams can continue learning without disrupting day-to-day productivity.

We'll also discuss how continued access to our learning hub after the sessions reinforces safety behaviours and keeps the conversation going long after the workshop ends.

Join us as we break down how these workshops can revolutionise the way your team approaches safety, helping to create a culture where safety isn't just an obligation but a shared responsibility.

If you're ready to transform your organisation's safety culture with practical, engaging, and customisable training, this episode is for you!

Feel free to email Karin to discuss Pick'n'Mix options. 

Thanks for listening!

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This episode was produced under Safety Collaborations Limited and now continues as part of Karin Ovari Limited. While we are not currently releasing new episodes, the entire library remains active, and the topics covered are just as relevant today as when they were first recorded.

To learn more about my current work in leadership and communication, visit karinovari.com and the leadership community, The Supervisors Hub.

Connect with us on LinkedIn:  Karin Ovari, Nuala Gage,

If you enjoyed this episode, please help us spread the word and leave a review on your preferred podcast player. 
 
 Stay Safe, Stay Well
The Safety Collaborators

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:09

Welcome to In Conversation with the Safety Collaborators. I am Karen.

Speaker 2 0:14

And I am Nuala, whether you're a safety professional, a leader or an individual committed to making a difference.

Speaker 1 0:22

We invite you to join the discussion on creating a culture of safety and care, enabling your team and leaders to design a safer and more productive and collaborative world.

Speaker 2 0:36

In this episode, we're going to explore the concept behind our very exciting pick and mix workshops and have a discussion around why did we even think of this concept or idea, why we designed them, how they help empower organizations to create a resilient safety culture whilst upskilling and giving back to their people in the organization. We're also going to dive into the role of collaboration in ensuring that these workshops are not just effective, but that they're also engaging, that they're relevant to the specific needs of your team and that in the process of doing these, you are growing and cultivating a more cohesive team, as well as building on that culture of safety. What are pick and mix workshops?

Speaker 1 1:26

The idea of the pick and mix workshops are there to allow organisations to select a range of topics that are relevant to their needs, so a little bit like picking your favourite sweets. So if you're in the UK, this is quite a common term when you go into a lolly store or a sweetie shop in Australia we call them lollies, over here they call them sweets they have a pick and mix section and you can go there with a sweetie shovel and a bag and pour in the different sweets that you want so that you have the flavours that appeal to you and to your needs on that day. So that's kind of the concept. The idea is that they're flexible, they're customizable.

Speaker 1 2:09

We have designed around 22 topics and of course we can always design topics that are bespoke to an organization. But the idea is that there's a starting point and that starting point is with these few topics that we've created. Each module is around roughly three hours, give or take, so that you can design a program, whether it's a one day based on three or four topics or a two day program based on five or six or seven topics, and we can pick and mix, we can put them together so that you can run something that is applicable to your needs or to the team's needs. We have a matrix for this as well, so you can always download that matrix when you get to it. We're starting from foundational topics through to intermediate, through to advanced, and the idea behind that is to help you pick where you want your people to be. Who's it for? The topic's actually worked for most workforce, so really, from boots on the ground through to frontline middle management is the ideal sort of target audience around that.

Speaker 2 3:14

So, yeah, that's the concept of them and I love that, because so often teams don't even know where to start they go. We know we're having maybe communication issues or people aren't speaking the same language when we're talking about the language of risk. What is the language of risk? We don't even know where to start, and we've got a mix of really experienced people and we've got absolutely green hats coming in who look at you like you're mad because you're expecting them to wear all of this PPE. So where does the conversation start? Initially I said to Karen oh, do you think 22 is going to be too many? Because it's like going into a restaurant where the menu is just too big and you actually don't know what to choose. So that's why we stopped there.

Speaker 1 4:01

I'll have a number five and a number 10.

Speaker 2 4:02

You can have your main.

Speaker 1 4:06

You can have a number five. You can have a 10 and a 32, please.

Speaker 2 4:13

And, trust me, it'll be a tasty mix at the end of it. Exactly, and it really is around, like you said, around. How do you get the conversation started? The matrix is a wonderful one because you can sit with your teams and you can say okay, well, we're having a bit of a problem with getting people back to basics. Oh my gosh, guess what, there's a module for that.

Speaker 2 4:37

Or I don't think people understand the nuances behind who we are as human beings can actually lead to us getting hurt. Guess what, there's a module for that too. Or our supervisors aren't really being that visible. We talk about visible, felt leadership and we talk about all this lovely stuff, but they're not walking the talk. Guess what, there's a module for that too. And that whole concept. I love it. I remember as a kid going in and my brother and sister and I and I would walk out with my little mix of the stuff that I was so excited about and I'd look at theirs and I'd go, oh no, I don't like that. And I was delighted that I had my choice. I had what was having a positive impact on my day. We really want this to be able to have a positive impact on your teams on your people and to help you balance that between productivity but having a safe organization at the same time.

Speaker 1 5:36

I think the other thing that these modules lend themselves to is they can be delivered in multiple ways, so we can do them as instructor-led virtual programs. We can do them on-site. If need be, we can break them down. You might decide that you want to run them over a period of 10 weeks and have one a week for a group of people, so that would be done remotely right. So that's the other add to the flexibility and adapting to your environment. So the idea, the other idea behind them, is that they are operationally sensitive, because you can't always send your whole crew off for three days to a hotel somewhere, which is lovely, but it's not always practical. So the idea is that these become a little more practical as well.

Speaker 2 6:21

And, as you said, adaptable and collaborative, because the more conversations we have with clients and the more we understand the needs and how, especially even since that pandemic that shall not be mentioned has changed the way of doing things and being able to in some organizations, harvard workers become a norm. In other organizations it's been a case of well hang on. If we could develop our people during that time, how can we continue the learnings that we've had from that and the different ways of doing that in a way that is operationally sensitive, supports production, and that the business is still happening? But our people are learning, they're feeling that they are cared for, that what they do matters Exactly.

Speaker 1 7:11

Yeah, I would suggest. It's a cost effective way of helping people to feel cared for.

Speaker 2 7:18

Yeah, it is. These are collaborative. They're engaging, the discussions are there, the building team dynamics, whether it's across multiple teams or the team that is in situ. It creates an environment and a learning platform where learning can continue afterwards, because so often you'll have a workshop. It's like fabulous. The guys are so enthusiastic. They get back to site and they go oh my gosh, you know what I learned about myself today. This is how I can get hurt. And have you considered this? And the people back at site look at them and go are you mad? Like what are you going to do about it? We have no clue. How do you enhance and continue that learning environment and bring it across multiple teams? This helps to do that. Maybe you're going back to site and then feeling a bit dejected or disappointed, because they're enthusiastic about implementing or being safer or trying something new. They've got somewhere they can go back to and be supported and continue the conversation.

Speaker 1 8:22

So adding to that is, one of the benefits, particularly if you're delivering in-person, virtual or virtually instructor-led type workshops is that you can actually get people from different departments in more easily, from different regions. They can actually work together as well. So that's one of the benefits. If you go online and work through our learning hub, we also collaborate with your own specialists on site and see what we can develop together or maybe enhance one of the workshops that we've got and that way we can collaborate it and customize it a little bit more towards what you actually need as well. But the idea is that you start with the basics or the baseline of the Pick and Mix modules.

Speaker 2 9:08

What we're really excited about is that when we started thinking about this and bouncing the idea of some of our clients, one of them actually went I love this idea, let's give it a try, let's have a look at giving the concept a trial. The material and the workshops actual modules are things that we know work fantastically, based on those years of experience that we're not really sharing. So we don't give away our ages sharing. So we don't give away our ages. But the material is something that has added value to many, many groups and workshops and clients over the years in enhancing their safety culture as well as developing and upskilling their people. So watch this space, because I'm sure we will be doing a case study on the initial 10 modules that we will be running and how that works and the value add that we know that these will bring and just to reiterate that these workshops are built on years of experience.

Tailored Safety Workshops

Speaker 1 10:24

They're not just oh, they sound like nice titles, let's just move forward with them. They come from a lot of experience and I remember, years ago, being out in the field going how do we make it easier for people to come up with the topics that they need to speak about? And that's probably where the seed for this was first planted, if you like. So how do you move forward with, or consider pick and mix workshops for your organisation? First of all, have a conversation with us, because we'll help you decide what would work for you. We can work with you to tailor the topics to suit your needs. We also have, just in case you'd like to try one of these workshops before you commit to a whole bunch of them, we also have some open workshops, meaning that they open to the public, open to anyone who wants to try one out.

Speaker 1 11:17

There's three topics available at the moment. The first one is how can I get hurt. The second one is visible leadership, walk and talk. And the third one is the five principles of human performance. So each of these are because they're open, workshops are four hours with breaks, and each one can be taken and there are some dates already set for these three workshops.

Speaker 1 11:40

So if you have a couple of people that you would like to see attend, there are some options. So what makes up Pick and Mix workshops? I think we mentioned earlier that the duration for each is about two and a half to three hours per module. They can be facilitated virtually or in person, but first case is probably virtually, which is a bit of a bonus. So every participant who attends one of these workshops will actually have access to the learning hub for a month after the workshop is completed. That way there is some sustained engagement. We will still be involved. We will communicate with those people on what we call asynchronously, meaning that it's not face-to-face but we can type and chat to each other through that learning hub.

Speaker 2 12:34

What else, nils? One of the things that we spoke about was let's do like a little bit of a scenario. So let's say that you have a team and maybe their level or their understanding of safety is not where you expect it to be. They're not really having conversations about it. The job's getting done, but when you go out on site, you're going oh, I'm concerned. I can see the supervisors are watching these guys working and I can see that it's unsafe, but nobody's actually calling a timeout and having a conversation. Where do I start? What could a one or a two day pick and mix look like?

Speaker 1 13:15

What would be one or two modules that you would choose, I think, the language of risk, because, as much as most people think that they've done a safety course or they understand what a hazard is, in our experience not necessarily. So as a fundamental modules, I would look at the language of risk and hazard identification, but also what to do when you see a hazard. It might include essential safety tools. So back to basics, on those. What causes people to be unsafe might be another one. So that might be day one, or it might be more about how do we help people have better observations and interventions, in which case you might add in better communication 101. Better conversations, I should say for safety 101, which is a really lovely module and that makes it easy for people to recognise where they're at before they even start a conversation. So, yeah, that's where I would probably start, maybe even the role of a frontline leader, but that might be already another workshop in there.

Speaker 2 14:24

So they'd be the starting points, yeah yeah, and again, depending on whether you're looking at the guys with the boots on the ground or just across the team as a foundational level, or moving into more of your your frontline supervisory role and building on that, we encourage you to consider that scenario.

Speaker 2 14:44

we're not going to throw too many more at you because, we'd really love you to go and have a look at what's that pick and mix menu that might actually inspire and support your teams and your organization, and everything is available on our website. We will be putting the links into it. If you go into safetycollaborationscom in the menu, you will see our training and workshops drop down. Everything is in there, including some fabulous FAQs, which will go into a little bit more detail, and I know that this podcast has been a little bit more salesy, but it's because we are just so excited about the value that we know that these workshops can bring to your teams and your organizations to build your safety culture.

Speaker 1 15:32

Happy learning.

Speaker 2 15:35

Thank you for joining us today. It is always lovely to have conversations that matter To learn more about creating a culture of safety and care. Please visit our website safetycollaborationscom to access our show notes, resources and guides. Leave us a message via the message us section on the show notes page and we'll get back to you.

Speaker 1 15:57

You can also join our community on social media by following us on our LinkedIn pages Safety Collaborations Karen Avari and Noola Gage and on our new Safety Collaborations social channels, and on our new safety collaborations social channels YouTube, facebook and Instagram. Our handle safety collaborations is much the same. Sharing is caring. Follow us on your favourite podcast platform. Leave us a five star review would be awesome. Doing these things helps us to grow and share our collective conversations Till next time. Stay safe and stay well.